Arastu Zakia

A day in the life of a girl (Shot from her PoV)

Long note FilmsSociety

I've always had this fantasy of shooting a video/film where the camera is a character - a woman. A woman's eyes. And viewers get first-person insight into what it would feel like to be one.

What would it feel like to be that woman in Visakhapatnam! The woman who was sleeping on the footpath, hungry for hours and was raped in broad daylight by an inebriated man while everyone walked by doing nothing! What would she have seen through her eyes! What would she have felt within! How would you feel it that were you!

What would it have felt like to be Nirbhaya! The woman who was violated by multiple men in a bus moving through the streets of Delhi for hours. The woman who had foreign objects inserted inside of her. The woman who saw her friend almost being killed by the same men. The woman who was thrown outside the bus and who lay on the sidewalk for hours along with her friend after the things that were done to them! What would her eyes have seen then! What would she have gone through! How would you feel it that were you!

How would a woman feel if she was walking down the street and a man spanked her behind and ran away or if another touched her chest and ran away! What would she see! How would her eyes move! Would they look up, would they look down, would they just shut, would they fight to blink, would they stay transfixed at the ground struggling to rise up! How would you feel it that were you!

What would it feel like to be in a perfectly normal city, yet feel like a war-zone where every other man strips her with his eyes, glances up and down her body with the kind of smirk where she shudders to think what he could have done had people not been around! What would it feel like if this happened every single time she went outside her home! How would you feel it that were you!

What would it feel like when she sits at a table and two men on the table in front pretend to take selfies of themselves while clearly just clicking a picture of hers. And laugh and joke about it, despite noticing that she's trying to hide her face and is very uncomfortable. How would you feel it that were you!

What would she have felt like when she was a child, sleeping innocently late at night and that cousin who was staying over quietly sneaked in and started feeling her! What would that fear feel like! What would waking up to that feel like! What would the fear and disgust in her eyes feel like! How would you feel it that were you!

How would the same girl feel when her mother rebukes her after she tells him about what her cousin did last night! How would that mix of shame and anger show in her eyes! Would she be confused! Would she want to tear her mother apart at that moment! Would she just crave some love right that instant! Would she feel empty! Would she ever be able to let go! How would you feel it that were you!

How would you feel it that were you...

Thoughts? Mail me.

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